Recording "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan

I think I have the promo, not sure about the PS. Vinyl or polystyrene? I'd have to drag mine out to be sure, but I thought it was styrene....

That, and for some reason, 7" 45's at 33 1/3rpm seem to sound noisier than the average mint 12" Lp's we were used to. Also, lower volume level to fit it all on one side?

That's maybe the key problem: the words often sound forced, as if Dylan were in such a rush to go into the studio and make a statement, he didn't finish what he'd started. That was fine back in the spontaneous days of HIGHWAY 61 and BOB, but by the mid'-70s, it was far more hit and miss for him.. Still, better than either version of "George Jackson."

Believe what you want, Steve, but.... ....I have to confess, the first few weeks I played it, it seemed mesmerizing, and the sheer propulsion of the tempo made you want to believe. Very dated now, but still has a vitality so much of his later recordings often lack.

ED

 

As far as I know, it's the original album track that was supposed to have had the vocals erased. However, I can only hear one small lyric change. Instead of:

"And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously.
"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand."

the previous version has him "robbin' the bodies". Although the change makes Bello appear less despicable, it certainly doesn't amount to removing him from the scene of the crime.

Bob-rare

 

Re Black Diamond Bay - think Joseph Conrad. His picture is on the back of the album.

Bob-rare

 

John, wherever you find these Blair Jackson articles, please keep posting them! This is one of the best yet. A great behind the scene read about one of Dylan's best. I also enjoy the live version on the Rolling Thunder set from last year. This can't be an easy song to pull off live but they nailed it!

 

Yeah that always bothered me as well, just to rhyme the couplet with the lame line that followed "He ain't no "Gentlemen Jim"

 

I always thought it was a good line, one that sounded authentic. The phrase was certainly in widespread use at the time. To quote from a review of the 1942 film "Gentleman Jim" starring Errol Flynn as world champion boxer James "Gentleman Jim" Corbett:

"James J. Corbett was of Irish parentage, twice expelled from school for boyish pranks, married an actress at 19, (later divorced) he was a quick-thinking, bright, brash, confident man with a "gentlemen's demeanor"; Flynn sustained and made believable his characterisation."

The NJ police would indeed have liked to paint Rubin Carter as the antithesis of this!

For more about Gentleman Jim, see:

http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/corbett.htm

He was of course a heavyweight, not a middleweight!

Bob-rare

 

Re: Meanwhile...

Bump.

Now we've finished talking about the song, does anyone have the scoop on Carter's guilt or innocence?

 

Re: Re: Meanwhile...

Don't blame me for the content.

http://graphicwitness.com/carter/

mud-

 

Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile...

mud,

Feeling mud-dled? That link was in my quote.

Maybe that's all there is?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile...

That's all I could find. I didn't even realize that link was up there!

Must be the eclipse!!!

mud-

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile...

Guilty or innocent? I need the answer by tomorrow.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile...

Am I supposed to be Judge Judy?



Let me review these facts and I'll let you know by tomorrow.

mud-

 

Being a criminal law buff, I've spent hours on that site and I say he is definitely a psychopath and there is no reason to think that he is not guilty.

A couple interesting tidbits.

A brief summation of his military career:

According to prison records (Exhibit K) the defendant entered the U.S. Army on August 27, 1954. He was separated on May 29, 1956 with the designation: "Unfitness." During his 21 months in the military, he was convicted by court-martial on four occasions. The charges are described as "disobeying a lawful order (three times), failure to make reveille, disrespectful in language to a non-commissioned officer and treated his superior officer with contempt." (Exhibit K, PPS. 2-3).

This is wild - testimony by Carolyn Kelley, who led the Carter Defense Fund until Rubin attacked her. This is her account:

So I immediately got dressed got in my car drove around the divider to the Sheraton, knocked on his door, and he asked who was it. I told him. He opened the door, I went in. He just started laughing, just laughing, laughing. So naturally I relaxed. I thought it was some kind of joke or something, just laughing. Then he went into the bathroom, he left the door open, and I walked to the edge of the door, and I was asking him what the hell is the matter you, what's wrong. At that point he was gargling with a bottle of Charlie cologne (inaudible) he spit the cologne out, he came out of the bathroom and I was standing by he edge of the bed and he just burst out laughing again. The next thing I knew he had hit me in my face and spun me around, I felt myself turning and spinning and I felt myself going down and fighting to hold on to consciousness because the walls, I went in between the wall and a regular sized bed in the room. And then he raised his foot to kick me, still laughing all the time and I managed to turn over, and he started kicking me in my back. Things were vague at that point and then I remember saying to myself, is this for real. I guess I must have turned back over, and he wasn't laughing then, but he was in a stooped position with his hands around my throat telling me he was going to kill me. (Exhibit P, p.5).


Interesting info on his 1957 crime spree here:

http://graphicwitness.com/carter/muggings/index.html

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile...

John, GUILTY!!!!

See Mike's post. Thanks, Mike.

Mike, whatcha charging per hour?

mud-

 

Great post!

 

Thanks Mike for your thoughtful analysis.

 

I enjoyed reading this story behind the recording of Hurricane by Blair Jackson. There is one minor point I took exception to, and that is the comment about Emmy Lou Harris' singing being ragged. In my opinion, she is one of the highlights of the Desire album! Dylan being who he is, must be a difficult person to sing harmony with under the best of circumstances. Emmy Lou did an outstanding job. As for her backup singing under the best of circumstances, I would refer you to her two albums with Gram Parsons.

 

In a discussion with his brother I learned that Mr. Brown, the bass player on Blood on the Tracks, experienced Bob playing in an open tuning, not taking the time to expose the new tunes to the players, and expecting the players to follow along. You have got to be good to pull that off. Joan Biez once complained at a concert with Bob that he would not rehearse; he replied, "no, we don't rehearse."

Richard.

 

I may be the only one but ... I've loved the sound on this album for a while (I only own the domestic CD.) It's sparse, the drums sound strange and the whole thing is just unconventional. Yet somehow, for me, it works. I can listen to this album over and over again and never get tired of it.

I absolutely love Isis (even if I'm not 100% sure what it's about.)